It is well known that particles generated during procedures such as surgical procedures as a result of cutting flesh or cauterising wounds obscure the view of the person performing the procedure and may be hazardous to the health of surgical staff. In a general sense, particle removal methods, such as smoke removal methods usually comprise means by which the smoke is physically removed by e.g. a vacuum and then vented externally of the operating theatre, or by filtering out the smoke particles and re-circulating air. However, in practice this may not be feasible or may be only partially achieved, meaning that health is at risk for those participating in the procedure and, more directly, the person carrying out the procedure can be hampered by the poor visibility caused by the presence of unwanted particles in the enclosed atmosphere, which may typically be an artificially inflated area of a patients body, such as during laparoscopic procedures where a suitably inert gas such as CO2 is introduced into the patient via an access port to inflate the area of the patients body where the procedure is to be carried out prior to the procedure commencing.
Even where cryosurgery is employed, frozen vapour, water droplets or other matter can be generated which singly or collectively act like a fog suspended in the local atmosphere, which again can obscure the view of those involved in the procedure. In WO 2011/010148 apparatus and methods are described for the removal or reduction of particles in an enclosed atmosphere which employ a high voltage to ionise particles and thereby remove them, partially or wholly, from the site of the procedure being undertaken and the present invention is derived from the realisation that this technique can be improved further by simplifying the process by which e.g. patients undergoing surgery can be prepared in a manner by which the time taken to perform the required procedure is kept to a minimum.